Siena, Italy

Siena is a medium size town in the Tuscan region. It has a great piazza in the center and several beautiful churches. The piazza is where Italians and tourists meet to sit and talk or have a gelato. There are restaurants and bars around the edge of this piazza. It is a large piazza.

On July 2 and August 16 the famous horse race is run (il Palio), There are 13 Contrade or city wards that compete but only 10 of the 13 get to race. Ten horses and ten men race bareback around the piazza’s edge three times. The winner holds the honor for a year. The edge of the piazza is transformed into a dirt horse track. The center has areas for people of each Contrade to stand and watch as horses race around them.

There are some wonderful books out now about Siena. Facts I remember: I read that Siena developed because it was on the pilgrimage path to the Vatican City and was home to the first bank of Italy they collected so much in tariffs. Siena had no original water source – but the location was essential, so they had to dig a tunnel under the mountain it’s built on to find water. Masterful Italian engineering once again created a great city.